Aline Lau is Europe's first certified KonMari consultant and the founder of her organising consultancy company Tokimekie based in London.

I’ve always been interested in and enjoyed organising so I believed my house was clutter free. However, no matter how tidy my house was, it was very high maintenance to keep it organised so I would find myself on a 'yo-yo' tidying cycle as the house would rebound to its initial untidy state.

After trying and failing so many times before, I was very sceptical about a method that would guarantee no rebound. Only after finishing the KonMari tidying marathon myself, I was amazed to realise that it is beyond the physical organisation of the space. It’s ultimately a tool that reveals what we truly value in life by surrounding ourselves with what contributes towards our happiness.

In the past I only focused on what to discard and I wasn’t paying close attention to the items I was keeping, because I didn’t follow any method or philosophy. Now I’m aware of everything I have and everything has a designated 'home'. Of course, living with a husband and 6-year-old daughter, the house can get messy sometimes, but it’s surprisingly fast and easy to put everything back in order. Tidying now has become an opportunity to reassess and reconfirm that my belongings indeed continue to ‘spark joy’.

I realised in the end how the process of re-evaluating our belongings one-by-one is actually an exercise that hones our sensitivity to joy. For me, the magic really happens when without even realizing it, we are applying the same concept in life, in relationships, when making friends, at work and in everything we do.

I was so fascinated by how the method positively impacts people’s lives in such an empowering and liberating way, that I decided to become a KonMari consultant and combine it with my interior design experience to enable people to experience the joy and contentment of living surrounded by what they love and achieve their ideal lifestyle.

Aline Lau and Marie Kondo at the first KonMari Consultant Seminar in New York.